2000 Olympic Games women's 400m winner Cathy Freeman (© Getty Images)
Perth, AustraliaOlympic 400m champion Cathy Freeman continued her return to individual competition with a 52.54 second 400m win in Perry Lakes Stadium, at a Australia’s Telstra A-Series meeting, yesterday (Feb 8).
Former double World champion Freeman was victorious in just her second individual 400m race since the Sydney Olympics, recording 52.54 seconds to stretch her unbeaten run to 23 races. Fellow Victorian Lauren Hewitt who had beaten Freeman over 200m last week also stepped up to the longer distance, taking second place in 53.88.
Australian Institute of Sport’s Patrick Johnson ran a windy sub-10 second 100 metres becoming the first ever Australian runner to break the benchmark barrier for world class sprinting. Johnson was impressive, recording 9.88 seconds in the Men’s 100m final, with an illegal tailwind of 3.6 m/s. This was the second time in a day that Johnson had broken 10 seconds, earlier in the heats, clocking 9.90 seconds, with a wind reading of 5.7m/s. On both occasions Nigerian Ambrose Ezenwa was second – 10.13 heat and 10.15 final.
Commonwealth Games 400m semi-finalist Clinton Hill set a new personal best time in the men’s 400m with a winning time of 45.39.
In the infield, Peter Burge long jumped a wind assisted 8.24m (3.6m/s); second with 8.02m was Tim Parravicini with a leap of 8.02m. While in the men’s Pole Vault, Olympic fifth placer Viktor Chistiakov cleared 5.70m, while reigning World champion Dmitri Markov finished equal second with Paul Burgess, after both vaulters cleared 5.55m.
Athletics Australia and IAAF
Selected Results (Australian unless stated) -
MEN
100m Heat 1 Wind: 5.7
1 Johnson, Patrick 9.90
2 Ezenwa, Ambrose (NGR) 10.15
100m Final, Wind: 3.6
1 Johnson, Patrick 9.88
2 Ezenwa, Ambrose (NGR) 10.13
3 Di Bella, Paul 10.23
4 Shirvington, Matthew10.42
400m
1 Hill, Clinton 45.39
2 Pearce, Paul 45.98
3 Steffensen, John 46.07
110m Hurs, Wind: 2.8
1 Vander Kuyp, Kyle 13.70
Pole Vault
1 Chistiakov, Viktor 5.70m
2 Burgess, Paul 5.55m
2 Markov, Dmitri 5.55m
Long Jump
1 Burge, Peter 8.24m (3.6)
2 Parravicini, Timothy 8.02m (5.2)
3 Hair, Shane 7.85m (3.0)
Shot
1 Anlezark, Justin 20.07m
WOMEN
100m, Wind: 4.4
1 Kemasoude, Gloria (NGR) 11.18
2 Cripps, Sharon 11.40
3 Slomka, Mindy 11.51
400m
1 Freeman, Catherine 52.54
2 Hewitt, Lauren 53.88
3 Hayward, Rosemary 54.02
100m Hurs, Wind: 4.8
1 Munro, Jacquie 13.13
Pole Vault
1 Ditton, Rosanna 4.15m
2 Young, Wendy 4.05m
